Things to Know About Baking Bread
Water or milk(whole, skimmed, evaporated or reconstituted nonfat dry) are
most often used for bread. Water makes the crust crisp, while milk produces
a soft crust and a creamy white crumb. The liquid must be at the correct
temperature;
it is too hot, it will kill the yeast; if it is too cold, the dough will
take longer to rise.
Many different kinds of fat (butter, margarine, shortening, salad oil or
lard) can be added
to bread dough to improve flavor and make the dough stretch more easily.
The bread will have
a tender crumb and stays soft longer.
Eggs added to a yeast dough add flavor, color and nutrition. They soften
the crust and give the interior
a fine crumb. Do not try to speed up the yeast in bread dough by increasing
the amount of flour,
sweetener or salt, or by adding ingredients. These will only make the bread
heavier.
To test the rising of yeast dough; The dough is doubled when two fingertips
pressed 1/2 inch into it
leaves dents that remain. If dents fill in quickly, let rise 15 minutes
longer and test again.
Ways to glaze bread before baking are: for a dark, shiny glaze, brush on
1 beaten egg yolk.
For a light shiny glaze, beat the whole egg or brush on melted butter or
margarine.
For shine with no color, brush on 1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water.
How can you test the vitality of yeast? Just before using the yeast, mix
some into one quarter cup
of lukewarm water that been enriched with one quarter teaspoon of sugar,
the food for the yeast.
If the yeast mixture does not start to bubble within five to ten minutes,
your microorganisms
are dead or enervated and will not leaven your dough or batter.
When baking bread, if tops brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil.
To test for doneness--
tap top of loaf lightly with your fingertips. If it sounds hollow and is
well browned on top,
the bread is ready. Remove loaves from pans immediately so bottoms don't
become soggy;
cool on wire racks.
If you roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper, dab some water under
the bottom sheet
and it won't skid away.
All ingredients for bread making should be at room temperature.
It's important to use the right size pan.
Bread stores in a cool, dry place best. It may be kept in the refrigerator
but will go stale more quickly.
Bread keeps in the freezer for 3 months if tightly wrapped and you make
sure to press out as
much air as possible.